SEATTLE – Maybe the post-game scrap, given the competitive nature of the players and teams involved, was inevitable.
As the seconds wound down in Washington’s 63-55 Pacific-10 Conference women’s basketball victory over Arizona State Thursday night, Husky guard Gioconda Mendiola and ASU’s Kylan Loney yapped at each other during free throws to the point that UW center Andrea Lalum had to wedge her 6-foot-4 frame between them.
But that was nothing compared to the post-game congratulatory high-fives.
Accounts vary, but somehow, as the two principles passed each other, Mendiola’s hand found its way to Loney’s face, which led to enraged tears and retaliatory adjectives on the part of Loney and a teammates-escorted exit for both.
“I don’t like them,” said senior guard Giuliana Mendiola, Gioconda’s sister. “Our team doesn’t like them. They don’t like us. It’s all good, though.”
Neither Loney, Gioconda Mendiola nor Sun Devils coach Charli Turner Thorne were available for comment. UW coach June Daugherty, however, told the press after the game that Gioconda said nothing she may have done was intentional.
“Their coach said to me that one of our players had slapped one of their players,” Daugherty said. “I asked our player. She said she went to high-five her and she moved her hand.
“I made my apologies to Charli. That’s not what we’re about.”
There also was a basketball game, one whose competitive nature outdistanced its style points.
The teams combined for 35 turnovers, 22 by the Sun Devils, whose bumbling finally caught up to them.
The win, combined with Oregon State’s 66-57 loss to California, gave the Huskies (9-8 Pac-10, 16-10 overall) sole possession of sixth place. ASU fell to 11-6 and 17-9.
Leading the majority of the game, ASU finally succumbed to turnovers and horrible second-half shooting. ASU made 7 of 29 shots from the floor in the second half, missing layup after layup. Most of the credit has to go to Washington’s interior defense, primarily Lalum, Jill Bell and Maggie O’Hara.
Lalum muscled rugged Sun Devils Kristen Kovesdy and Aubree Johnson into a combined 3 of 9 shooting and scored 15 points herself.
Bell pulled down 11 of her game-high 13 rebounds in the second half. O’Hara was dogged on defense and drew two charges.
But the architect of Washington’s second-half mastery was Giuliana Mendiola.
She scored 31 points, 16 from the free-throw line, pulled down seven rebounds and handed out four assists in playing the entire 40 minutes.
“I have a lot of energy right now,” she smiled. “I’m just excited we won. Coaches always ask me if I’m all right and taking care of myself, but, especially at the end of close games, I don’t feel tired. I feel more energized than anything.”
Giuliana Mendiola scored six and assisted Lalum on a 3-pointer in a 9-3 UW run that gave the Huskies a 45-41 lead with 11 minutes left, a lead they would never give up.
The advantage reached 50-42 four minutes later, when Giuliana Mendiola gathered an offensive board one-handed, looked at the rafters and whipped a pass to Angie Jones for a layup, all in one motion.
ASU took a 32-26 lead into halftime, despite 14 turnovers and 12 fouls.
Washington didn’t take advantage, primarily because the Huskies couldn’t consistently penetrate the Sun Devils’ harassing, high-pressure defense. Setting up shop well beyond the 3-point line, ASU’s perimeter players bothered their Husky counterparts and took Washington out of its halfcourt offense.
In the first half, Washington shot just 37 percent from the floor, was 5-for-11 from the free-throw line, committed nine turnovers and was 1-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line. Included in the free-throw problems were three missed front ends of one-and-one opportunities.
Washington also was out-rebounded, 20-12.
Giuliana Mendiola led all scorers with 15 at the half. She and Cameo Hicks scored all but four of Washington’s first-half points.
The Huskies were down by as many as eight points in the first 20 minutes. Giuliana Mendiola cut the deficit to three with seven seconds remaining before Loney buried a 30-footer at the buzzer for the Sun Devils’ six-point halftime advantage.
Loney led ASU with 12 points.
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